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Topic Review (Newest First)

12-05-2012 05:36 PM

Bridget

Thank you everyone for the ideas and especially the support. It is good to have a few more options to check out. I think the worst thing about this is not having anyone to talk to. It is good to know others have been in this situation and come out the other side.

12-05-2012 03:12 PM

cta

i just deferred my student loans because i've been unemployed for almost a month. you should have the option to choose unemployment deferment, in which case you may not need to provide documents. in my case, i did not. maybe go on the lender's website and look through things there. for mine, they had a whole chart explaining poverty lines, different types of deferments, etc. best of luck, i know it's stressful.

LoveEcho gave good advice too...when my life turned upsidedown, i literally had to take every day minute by minute. then hour by hour...please take care of yourselves the best you can.

12-05-2012 03:10 PM

Daisy&Lucky's Mom

Quote:

Originally Posted by Courtney

Not sure if this is an option for you. I just helped an employee with this process a few days ago.

If you have a 401k....perhaps you qualify for a "hardship withdrawl" based on your current situation? The IRS has strict guidelines to this.

This would only be a short term fix...just keeping your head above water and holding onto your house longer.

This is a really good idea.

12-05-2012 03:09 PM

Daisy&Lucky's Mom

My husband has had 2 failed businesses and presently a significant portion of his income goes to back business bills. He is an owner/operator now but when the business failed he became a company driver. Its a tough thing. We had to make the decision to stop throwing good moneyt after bad which meant he took a job that didnt allow him any time off but then after two years almost its alot better.WE let 4 drivers go and an office person which is what hurt him the most. Can you contact your mortgage folks somertimes they can give options.My prayers are w/ you guys.

12-05-2012 02:21 PM

LoveEcho

Bridget, I can totally commiserate-- my husband washed away an extremely large chunk of our savings (money that he had come into our marriage with so I didn't feel right telling him 'no') to try and start his own trucking business, which also failed. We were in the exact same situation... we have been trying to sell our home but have been unable to. He ended up taking a job driving for FedEx (a serious blow to his ego... he owned a very successful landscaping company in CT and sold it to move for my job) for $13/hr. I took a second job working as a pharmacy tech at CVS, as well as taking on as much freelance software writing work that I could.

The best advice I can give is focus on every day, every hour, at a time. You will make it through this hour. And the next hour. There are resources, exhaust your options. Call the student loan companies if you have to, they WILL negotiate-- even the feds. Everyone is having a hard time right now (the student loan crisis is the new housing crisis), so they will take pretty much any amount you can offer. I would do this before deferring- the interest will kill you and you will never, ever catch up on principal. Sell anything expendable (extra vehicles, etc) to tide you over. Get a second, third job if you have to. I promise you will get through this (your post struck so close to home with me, I'm all emotional now ). It is the holiday season; focus on what you can control and spending time with family. Breathe. Take it day by day-- thinking about what you'll do next week, month, or year is overwhelming and you will shut down. There are options out there, including unemployment extension, debt consolidation, etc. There are also housing payment assistance programs that are short-term. It will look up.

Also, on a more personal note-- I know how hard it can be to deal with the anger or resentment you may feel towards your husband. When things were pretty bad for us, it was SO hard to squash the "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" feeling. One member here gave me invaluable advice-- instead, be proud of him that he had the guts to at least try. This economy is not friendly to small business owners, and it is only going to get worse in the foreseeable future, unfortunately. But I'm sure he learned a lot, and if he learns from his mistakes he can dream about trying again in the future.

But I would start with the first place and see what they can do to help. I am really sorry that this is happening. I hope for the best for you.

Also - weird thought - the talk is that there are tons of jobs in North Dakota is it? Not maybe the best of options but something I've heard about.

12-05-2012 01:31 PM

Courtney

Not sure if this is an option for you. I just helped an employee with this process a few days ago.

If you have a 401k....perhaps you qualify for a "hardship withdrawl" based on your current situation? The IRS has strict guidelines to this.

This would only be a short term fix...just keeping your head above water and holding onto your house longer.

12-05-2012 01:27 PM

kiya

Take a deep breath, you have to hang in there. I've been thru the ringer, believe me. We went into business in 2007 and out of business in 2009, what I thought was the worst time of my life. We made it thru that and are now on to our next ordeal.
I know it sounds clich'e but things have a way of working themselves out and it is truely darkest before dawn.
I keep telling my husband we will work this new thing out, I'm not going to side track your thread with my new problems, when I'm up to it I will probably need to post.

THERE ARE SOLUTIONS FOR YOU, you just need to figure it out.

12-05-2012 01:25 PM

Bridget

It is construction. It was hoped that enough could be made to make up for the turn in season, but hasn't happened. He may be able to get an "unemployment deferral" on the student loan I just learned. Unemployment nope, not when you have been self employed. We will see if you have to be receiving unemployment benefits to get this type of deferral.

12-05-2012 01:21 PM

BahCan

Bridget....very sorry to hear you and your family are going through this right now.

Is there any way you could have a consultant take a look at your husbands business plan, his direction, the marketing, overhead costs etc and make suggestions that could put the business on the right path to success. If there were indications that this could be a successful business after seeking the advice of a consultant, perhaps you could seek out an investor who would be willing to invest in your business to help make it a success.

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